Business briefs
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Originally published 12:00 p.m., May 24, 2008
Updated 03:22 p.m., May 23, 2008
Optometry degree
Bret David Wise, a graduate of Emporia High School, is one of 119 students who recently received doctorate degrees in optometry from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis.
Wise, who graduated from Wichita State University in 2004, is the son of Don and Ruth Wise.
Online pizza milestone
Papa John’s has marked $1 billion in online sales of its take-and-bake pizzas and other items. The company, which has a restaurant in Emporia, says online sales have taken off since the service was introduced in 2001, growing at an average of more than 50 percent each year.
Gasoline deal offered
Emporia Motors is hoping to allay customers’ concerns about rising gas prices by offering $2.99-a-gallon gasoline for three years when they buy a new Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge.
Through June 2, the “Let’s Refuel America” incentive program lets the buyer register a car or truck purchase and receive a personal identification number and gasoline card. The card entitles them to buy gasoline, up to 87 octane regular; E85 fuel; or diesel fuel, charged to their personal credit card at $2.99 a gallon at an eligible gas station.
Emporia Motors is one of 3,511 U.S. dealers participating in the program, which applies to vehicles ranging from new compacts, crossovers and minivans to full-size diesel-powered pickups.
Attend convention
Tom Thomas and Dan Robertson of Genworth Financial Securities Corporation, 1225 West Sixth Ave., recently returned from the Genworth Financial Investment Services 10th Annual National Convention in Las Vegas.
The men selected sessions to attend from more than 35 based on the conference’s theme, “Plan, Manage, Grow: Keys to Your Success.”
Planning for IRA distributions, the power of an administrator, and long-term care planning solutions were among the topics of focus.
Genworth, identified as GNW on the New York Stock Exchange, is a leading public Fortune 500 global financial security company, according to a news release from the local company. With more than 15 million customers, Genworth has over $114 billion in assets and employs approximately 7,000 people in 25 countries. Company headquarters are in Richmond, Va.
Staples profit up
BOSTON — Strong sales of delivered office products to corporate customers at home and overseas helped Staples Inc. post a 1.5 percent increase in its first-quarter profit, and rebound modestly from small profit declines the previous two quarters.
But the slow U.S. economy continued to hurt the world’s largest office products supplier, which reported its fourth consecutive quarter of declining sales at established U.S. and Canadian stores, which rely heavily on individual consumers.
Staples’ chief executive also suggested Tuesday that his company will be cautious in its hostile bid to acquire Corporate Express NV, and has little appetite to prolong a campaign now being waged directly with the Netherlands-based firm’s shareholders.